Wearing your glasses?
QI SUFFER from night-time incontinence although I have never had it during the day. I drink three to four cups of tea and three glasses of water each day. I don’t drink alcohol. When I go to the toilet, I don’t wee very much and seem to store it all up for night-time. Should I drink more liquid in the morning or is medication the only answer?
AI SUSPECT you have an over-active bladder. This means that the bladder muscle goes into spasm when it is only containing a small amount of urine. If this happens during the day you will feel a fairly sudden urge to pee but as long as a toilet is in reach, you won’t have any accidents.
However at night, when you are asleep, you may not wake up in time to reach the loo.
Having a urine infection can make matters worse. In older people the symptoms of this can be subtle and it may not cause any pain or stinging when you pass urine.
An over-active bladder can be treated with medication, which is available on prescription, that relaxes the bladder muscle.
So I would advise you to make an appointment to see your GP, who can also check if you have an infection.
If you have a health question for Dr Rosemary please write to her in confidence at The Northern & Shell Building, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN or email health@ express.co.uk
Dr Rosemary’s reply will appear in this column. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence and that, due to the volume of letters, she cannot reply to everyone. Find out more about Dr Rosemary at drrosemaryleonard.co.uk.